39 Ikea Hacks that are Simple and Super Stylish

Ikea hacks are here to make great looking furniture accessible to everyone. You can easily update an Ikea product to make it look like a high-end piece of furniture that wouldn’t look out of place in an interior design magazine.

There are so many great resources that take you through Ikea hacks step by step, you just need to find the perfect one.

We’ve brought together a huge list of 39 Ikea hacks that are (mostly) easy and that are really beautiful, because let’s face it, there are some pretty dire ones out there. We’ve made a curated list with our eye for great interior design from which you will hopefully find something you love!

Don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest to see tons of great Ikea Hack ideas as well as home decor inspiration.

This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure herefor more info.

Reclaimed Wood Clad Sideboard

Source: Place of My Taste

This gorgeous sideboard started life as Ikea BESTA wall cabinets. The clever people at Place of My Taste simply added reclaimed wood cladding to give it a sumptuous, tactile update.

Adding wood to Ikea products is a popular hack that adds a really stylish twist to the modern scandinavian look of Ikea. Once you have found the ideal pieces of timber and cut to size, stained, varnished as necessary you can simply glue them to the doors. A very easy but effective Ikea hack.

Industrial Locker Effect Cabinet

Source: Pastels and Macarons

We love this creative hack from Little House of Four that turns the versatile KALLAX shelf into a rack of vintage style lockers. This would involve a little bit of work making hinged doors and painting but the final product is amazing!

You could have this in the hallway filled with everyones shoes, bags, etc ready as you go out the door. There are various sizes of KALLAX shelves so you could do a smaller one if preferable.

Custom Painted Wall Cabinets

One of Ikea’s own hacks, this beautiful painted bank of wall cabinets is another fairly simple project. It’s both a storage solution and a work of art!

You could obviously create your own style of art on the front of these IVAR wall cabinets but we love the effect of this design.

If you didn’t want to get arty with paint, you could just get a stick-on mural and divide it between the doors.

Drip Painted Plant Pots

Source: Ikea

Another of Ikea’s own hacks, this one is so simple it is achievable at any level of DIY expertise! The bright colours introduced by the dripped paint help give a bit of excitement to any room and contrast nicely with the green of the plants.

This is also a really cheap Ikea hack. You don’t even have to use them for plants, as demonstrated with the pens and paint brushes above.

Built-In Bookshelves

Source: The Makerista

This hack from The Makerista may be a more involved, but you’d hardly know it was an Ikea BILLY bookcase behind all that. It really adds an element of elegance to the room, especially when paired with the rolling library ladder.

Don’t be afraid to get stuck into this project, it will save you a lot of money while making this professional look achievable for the average DIYer.

Corner Gallery Wall

Our last offering from Ikea themselves. This hack is a great way to make an eye-catching gallery wall with the very affordable RIBBA picture frames.

You could do this on an external or internal corner.

All you need to do now is fill the frames with family pictures, or anything of your choosing like these gorgeous puppy pictures!

Hot Air Balloon Light Fitting

Source: Husligheter

Such a cute way to hack the very cheap REGOLIT pendant lampshade. This Ikea hack from Husligheter is a great way to instantly make a kids bedroom or nursery super-stylish and cosy.

It also acts as soft toy storage!

The black spots are furniture pads and you can find wicker baskets and beads at most household stores.

Rustic Branded Crate Ottoman

Source: Ikea Hackers

A really creative way to use the KNAGGLIG box, which is such an inexpensive Ikea product. This branded crate from IkeaHackers would fit in perfectly in any rustic/industrial/farmhouse style room.

If you have a working fire or wood burner this would make an excellent wood store. You could also personalize the branding for your family. You just need some lettering stencils and you can do whatever you like!

Painted and Upholstered Stools

Source: Ikea

Ok, one more hack from IKEA. After all, they do know their products well. There are several IKEA pieces that lend themselves perfectly to hacking and these FROSTA stools are begging for an update.

This hack gives you a chance to really express your creative side to come up with something perfect for your living space.

Upholstered Headboard

Hello, a padded headboard! Apart from the opportunities this hack might create in the bed, the tufted upholstery is an instant upgrade in glamour for any upholstery.

Place of My Taste have really done well making something so simple that adds so much to the look of the bedroom. You can customize this further with whatever fabric you want.

Dalmation Inspired Bar Cart

Source: Domino

We love a bit of animal-based decor in our house and this Dalmatian print bar cart hack from Domino really caught our eye. Drinks trolleys and bar carts are a popular trend right now and we are not going to argue with that! Gin o’clock!?

This trolley is no longer available from IKEA but you could use the SUNNERSTA to create a similar effect.

Low Level Rattan Lamp

Source: Domino

Another really simple IKEA hack involving the SINNERLIG pendant lampshade. Sometimes you just don’t have the ceiling height for a large pendant light and so if you live this fitting you can turn it into a floor lamp!

Domino have come with a great little hack here that really costs very little.

Again, we recommend you get a qualified electrician to fit a plug to the cable.

Mid-Century Bar Cabinet

Source: The Vintage Rug Shop

With the addition of some mid-century style legs, a lot of IKEA cabinets can be hacked to produce a modern/mid-century mix that really packs a punch.

Industrial Wood and Metal Bookshelf

The VITTSJO shelving unit is a brilliant product from IKEA on it’s own, but when hacked like this by Yellow Brick Home it takes on a whole other, lovely identity.

Dark interiors are very much on trend right now and this shelf with it’s wood and metal mix fits it’s surroundings perfectly. The vinyl it carries adds yet more cool to the look.

Industrial Chipboard Fronted Cupboard

Source: Ich Designer

Kristina at Ich Designer has come up with some genius level IKEA hacks such as the mirror effect bedside table in our post on high-end IKEA hacks. This chipboard-inspired cupboard using BILLY units is an incredible piece of design.

It simply uses the trendy material of chipboard to cover the shelving on sliding tracks and would work perfectly in any industrial style interior.

Luxurious Panelled Sideboard

Source: Superfront

The people at Superfront have created a huge range of products to make IKEA hacks so much easier. They produce geometric panels that just stick to the front of a wide range of furniture including the BESTA cabinet above.

This all makes hacking very simple and certainly stylish. We live geometric patterns and they really add a bit of luxury to furniture.

White and Gold Desk

Source: Money Can Buy Lipstick

Often you just need s can of gold spray paint to update a piece of metal furniture and that hack works so well with this ALEX desk from Money Can Buy Lipstick.

White and gold always work well together and this home office becomes that little bit more elegant for it. The VITTSJO shelf is also a good candidate for this hack as you’ll see in our high-end Ikea hacks post.

Green and Gold Upholstered Ottoman

Source: Melo Drama

Green and gold also go really well together and this ottoman hack from Melo Drama uses a VITTSJO coffee table to achieve something stunning.

Once again, the tufted upholstery look adds a bit of luxury to the whole project.

Vintage Cubby Shelving

Source: Petal and Ply

We really like to look achieved with this KALLAX hack from Petal and Ply. It’s such a unique way to display lots of items as well as being a perfect form of storage in a farmhouse style kitchen.

This hack is another that is relatively easy to achieve. You could use this idea in the hallway for shoe storage.

Upholstered Wardrobe Doors

Source: Living etc

Upholstered (especially tufted!) finishes are becoming a bit of a theme here! This PAX wardrobe hack from Living etc magazine in November 2013 is in a whole other league though.

Who knew a PAX wardrobe could lol like this!? The panels are created with ready made fabric which makes it a fairly simple project. You just need some foam behind it.

Wall Mounted Easel

Source: Arin Solange At Home

A fantastic alternative to the now over-popular chalk board in everyone’s home. This art-wall-on-a-roll hack from Arin Solange At Home can be for the whole family to use.

It would fit in perfectly to a farmhouse kitchen project and might save a few walls from your kids too!

Ornate Bedside Table

Source: Swoonworthy

This is a very tasteful embellishment of the Ikea RAST dresser from Swoonworthy and really adds an element of elegance to the room.

It is a good example that shows you how an IKEA hack can turn something very mundane into something beautiful.

Home Office Desk Tidy

Source: Grillo Designs

When you see the before and after pictures for this SKADIS hack from Grillo Designs you’ll really see what a difference it makes.

The touches of gold make it all work but the pegboard is such a functional way to keep your home office tidy.

Mid-Century Modern Gold Inlaid Sideboard

Source: Kristi Murphy

Those geometric patterns are back with this great hack from Kristi Murphy. It uses a STOCKHOLM sideboard and some gold trim to get this mid-century modern look.

The IKEA sideboard is already a pretty good piece of furniture but this hack makes it a standout piece.

Cage Light Sconce

Source: Nalle’s House

This hack from Nalle’s House uses IKEA brackets but the light fitting is from Target. You could do it all with IKEA though if you use the SLATTBO or HEMMA/BRUNSTA lights.

It’s such a simple hack but really stylish and would work perfectly as bedside lamps.

Stylish Plant Stands

Source: Provinzkindchen

Plant stands are moving up in the rankings of must have accessories at home (along with plants too!). This hack from Provinzkindchen should go down a storm.

Unique Box Bookcase

Source: Ikea Hackers

We both think this hacker could do with a little more colour sorting in this EKET bookcase hack but that’s just our weird preference! The design itself is top notch and would work well in a playroom, living room, bedroom or even a shop!

It’s a really easy one to achieve too as long as you are good with a tape measure and spirit level!

Rustic Apothecary/Map Cabinet

Source: Ikea Hackers

Who doesn’t love an apothecary cabinet!? I don’t think this style will ever go out of fashion (it seems!) but this gorgeous hack makes it very accessible if you can’t stretch to an Anthropology budget!

You can fit rustic or vintage style pieces like this into a variety of decor styles.

Dressing Room Clothes Chair

Source: Ikeahackers

Looking through the archives of Ikeahackers is a lovely way to spend the afternoon and this excellent hack is one that stood out for its sheer artistic greatness.

The chair is no longer available but you could use a STEFAN chair from the current stock.

If you’re a fan of unusual decor that will be a real talking point, this is a great idea. Especially if you already drape your clothes over a chair!

Art Deco Drinks Cabinet

Source: Ikea

Our house is littered with Art Deco references (being a 1920’s build) and so we love to see ways of getting a bit more in. This Art Deco inspired IVAR cabinet hack from Ikea (yes one more from them!) looks great and really compliments the dark wall colour.

The great thing about a lot of these IKEA hacks is the blank canvasses that they provide with a lot of their products.

It’s very simple, but stunning. By leaving the bed white it allows the accessories to stand out while still being a string centrepiece in the room.

Green and Gold Dresser

Source: 100 Layer Cake-let

This is a really simple hack from 100 Layer Cake-let with just a re-paint and new gold handles. It just goes to show how you can bring a plain piece of furniture bang up to date really quite easily.

Chic Dressing Room Cabinets

Source: Erin Kestenbaum

And finally, I had to end with this impressive hack from Erin Kestenbaum using PAX wardrobes. There has been a lot of work put into this project but using the PAX wardrobes really saved them a lot of time

The sky is the limit with IKEA hacks. Take this last project as an example of how far you can take the finish.

Now be honest, there must be something here that really takes your fancy. Why not go and have a crack at it, even if it’s just the drip painted plant pots.

I think we’ve even inspired ourselves with some of these hacks so don’t be surprised if you see something similar appearing in our project pages soon!